Commercial

Commercial

We have specialist prosecutors who deal with commercial offences, such as insider trading, stock market manipulation and breach of duty by company officers, as well as fraud offences under state or territory law.

These are serious offences for which deterrent penalties, including imprisonment, are often sought and imposed.

Complex commercial crime can be difficult to detect, investigate and prosecute.

Matters are referred to us by investigative agencies, including the:

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)

Regulation and Enforcement Branch of the Australian Financial Security Authority

Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Matters referred to us

Amongst the matters referred by ASIC are offences under the:

Corporations Act 2001

Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001

National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009.

As a result, our commercial prosecutors deal with many and varied offences from different areas of Commonwealth criminal law, and related state or territory laws.

For example, a commercial prosecutor might deal with a failure by a bankrupt to comply with a requirement to provide something intended to facilitate the administration of the bankrupt’s estate pursuant to the Bankruptcy Act 1966, a breach of duty by a company officer pursuant to the Corporations Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2006, or offences of forgery and using a forged document contrary to sections 144.1 and 145.1 of the Criminal Code.

In addition, we are responsible for prosecuting offences under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, including ACCC briefs regarding serious cartel offences in sections 44ZZRF and 44ZZRG.

The ACCC receives and manages applications for immunity from criminal prosecution for serious cartel offences, and if one was referred to us, we would play an important role in this process.

For example, if the ACCC made a recommendation to our Director that an applicant for conditional immunity under the ACCC’s Immunity Policy for Cartel Conduct should be granted immunity, our Director would decide this under section 9(6D) of the DPP Act by applying the criteria in Annexure B of the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth.

No briefs in relation to alleged cartel conduct have been referred to the CDPP at this stage.